Refuse compactor

ABSTRACT

A refuse compactor has an upright housing whose internal compacting chamber is accessible by a door provided in its circumferential wall. A compacting head fills the cross section of the chamber and is guidedly slidable in axial direction thereof. A power source and motion-transmitting arrangement are provided for advancing the compacting head towards an end wall of the housing to thereby compact refuse between the end wall and the compacting head, and for subsequently withdrawing the compacting head in direction away from the one end wall for enabling removal of the compacted refuse.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Dav1dR.Li.gh 2,691,338 /1954 Robbins 100/215 X 193 Main St., Madison, NJ. 07940 2,757,603 8/1956 Wilson et al.. 100/226 [21] Appl. No. 800,220 2,916,985 12/1959 Beach .1 100/53 [22] Filed Feb. 18,1969 3,024,720 3/1962 Welsh 100/53 Patented Aug.3l, 1971 3,274,922 9/1966 Hefner 100/246 X 3,353,478 11/1967 Hopkins.... 100/229 X 3,424,078 1/1969 Boyd et al.. 100/255 X [54] REFUSE COMPACTOR 3,438,321 4/1969 Gladwin 100/255 X 13 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs. FOREIGN PATENTS [52] 11.5. C1 100/53, 1,112,958 5/1968 Great Britain 100/226 53/124,100/126, 100/215,100/229, 100/245, 277,477 9/1930 ltaly 1. 100/255 loo/246' loo/255' loo/269 32 32 Primary 'ExaminerBilly J. Wilhite 511 int. Cl ..B30b15/00 5mm Field ofSearch 100/53,

12731531836931229340 255345 ABSTRACT: A refuse compactor has an upright housing 246'247248-249'50351152355295; whose internal compacting chamber is accessible by a door 141/71! 283; 53/124 provided in its circumferential wall. A compacting head fills the cross section of the chamber and is guidedly slidable in [56] Reerences Cmd axial direction thereof. A power source and motion-trans- UNITED STATES PATENTS mitting arrangement are provided for advancing the compact- 3,062,130 11/1962 Huber et a1. /295 X ing head towards an end wall of the housing to thereby com- 3,204,550 9/1965 Swiderskiet al... 100/295 X pact refuse between the end wall and the compacting head, 492,259 2/1893 Barrett 100/250X and for subsequently withdrawing the compacting head in 2,234,098 3/1941 Wells 100/53 direction away from the one end wall for enabling removal of 2,415,766 2/1947 Shapiro 100/269 UX the compacted refuse.

PATENTED Ausal l97| 3.602.136

sum 2 or 3 INVENTOR F 2 BY 001/10 2.1mm

fWn/QQ/ She'll ATTORNEY 3,602,.lilb

REFUSE COMIPAKI'IIOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is concerned with refuse compactors in general, and more particularly with refuse compactors which are especially suitable for household use.

The problem of refuse disposal is becoming ever more critical, particularly in urban areas. Not only has consumption generally increased but also the use of relatively complicated discardable packaging is becoming ever more prevalent. By this it is meant that whereas previously simple bags or paper wrappings were used for many goods, today moulded or extruded plastic packages are utilized which are not readily flattened as was the old style paper packaging. Similarly, more and more products are being supplied in cans or in so-called one-way bottles which must be discarded by the householder. All of this results in a refuse mix in the average household which requires for storage until delivery a much greater volume of space than heretofore, and which presents to refuse collecting services an ever increasing problem in disposal.

Of course, equipment has been available for some time for the commercial compacting of refuse. However, such equipment is very complicated, expensive and bulky and is not suitable for small-scale applications such as use in a private home or apartment. Yet, it is in these circumstances where the need for a means of reducing the excessive amount of space required for temporary storage of refuse is greatest and becoming ever more critical.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of my invention to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks and to provide a refuse compactor capable of meeting the requirements which have been outlined above in general terms.

More particularly, it is an object of my invention to provide a refuse compactor suitable for use in apartments, private homes and similar applications where the unit itself must be compact for lack of storage space.

An additional object of the invention is to provide such a refuse compactor which is relatively simple in its construction and which can be reliably and without danger operated by persons of little or no mechanical skill and training.

An additional object of the invention is to provide such a refuse compactor which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and to sell.

In pursuance of the above objects, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of my invention resides in the provision of a refuse compactor having a housing which is provided with an internal chamber and which includes a circumferential wall and a pair of axially spaced end walls bounding the chamber. A compacting head whose crosssectional dimensions are substantially the same as those of the chamber is arranged therein for guided sliding advancement in axial direction of the chamber. A door is provided in the circumferential wall of the housing and communicates with the chamber so that refuse to be compacted may be introduced into the latter through the door. Finally, I provide means associated with the compacting head and acting to effect advancement of the latter in axial direction of the chamber to thereby compact refuse contained therein by compressing it between the compacting head and one of the end walls bound ing the chamber.

The power supply for the advancement of the compacting head may advantageously utilize a hydraulic piston or a mechanical screw which may be actuated manually or may be motor operated.

A highly advantageous feature of my invention resides in the fact that the refuse, which is comprised of many bulky items such as glass bottles, cans, paper cartons, paper of all sorts, food and waste and is thus fullof voids and very bulky, may be placed into a bag-shaped receptacle, such as a waterproof paper bag or plastic bag, and thereupon introduced into the compacting chamber of my compactor wherein its volume is reduced to approximately one-tenth of the original bulk. In this highly compacted state the refuse is clearly much more easy to handle and requires obviously much less storage space, both in the individual household while awaiting pickup by the refuse collecting service and on the refuse collecting trucks and subsequently at the dumping station.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWIN G FIG. 1 is a partially diagrammatic side elevation, with parts broken away and with the compartment door shown open, of a refuse compactor according to-one embodiment of my inventron;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 showing size relationships as they may be incorporated in an actual household-type refuse compactor according to my invention; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a refuse compactor according to another embodiment of my invention, with certain details omitted because they have been shown in FIG. 1 and are identical.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawing in detail, and firstly FIG. I thereof, it will be seen that reference numeral 1 identifies a housing which here is shown as an upright housing of generally cylindrical configuration. I wish it to be understood, however, that the cross-sectional configuration of the housing need not necessarily be round, but could be oval, square or generally polygonal.

The housing is provided with an interior compacting compartment 2 bounded by the circumferential wall of the housing as well as the lower end wall 4 and the upper end wall l6 thereof. A door 3, constituting a partcircular portion of the circumferential wall bounding the compartment 2, provides access to the latter and is in this embodiment hinged for pivoting movement about a pivoting axis extending in parallelism with the upright axis of the housing 1. The lower end wall 4i which must absorb the pressure of the compacting head, as will still be discussed, is constructed as an anvil and reinforced at its underside, being welded to the circumferential wall of the housing 1.

Suitable latches 5 of well-known construction are used for securely holding the door'3 closed when desired, that is when the device is in operation.

Arranged in the compartment 2 is a compacting head 6 which is freely suspended in the compartment 2 and movable slidably and guidedly from the upper end of the compartment It downwards towards the end wall i thereof. Thus, if refuse is placed into a bag or similar container and then into the compartment 2 with the door 3 closed, and when compacting head 6 is moved downwardly towards the end wall i, the refuse will be compacted between the end wall 4 and the compacting head The compacting head comprises a plate or similar shaped member extending normal to the longitudinal axis of the compartment 2 and having crosssectional dimensions substantially complementary to the interior cross-sectional dimensions of the chamber 2. In other words, the head 6 fits rather closely with approximately one-eighth inch of play in the com partment An annular member or wall 7 is connected by welding or the like to the head 6 and extends upwardly therefrom. I choose to call this wall 7 an upwardly extending skirt, and its diameter should be advantageously the same as that of the head 6, but may be somewhat smaller. The upper free edge of the upwardly extending skirt 7 in turn is provided with an annular guide 8 having a free fit with the interior wall bounding the compartment 2. In this manner, the compacting head 6 is prevented from tipping or tilting, which may occur when it engages refuse which is either unevenly loaded so as to be higher one one side and lower on the other side of the component 2, or where the load of refuse consists of different materials at different sides with the result that at on side the material is more readily compactible than at the other side with the head 6 tending to tilt towards this one side. Evidently, this would cause tipping or tilting or slanting of the head 6 and might result in jamming thereof. Because this is undesired and not conducive to smooth and continuous operation of the device, the skirt 7 and the guide 8 are provided to prevent this. The skirt should, incidentally, advantageously have a height corresponding to approximately 25 percent of the diameter of the housing 1 in the illustrated embodiment.

A hydraulic cylinder of the double-acting type is mounted on the upper end wall 16 of the housing 1 via a cylinder mounting base 17. This base is securely fastened to the cylinder 15 in usual manner and the piston and piston rod 14 of the cylinder are displaceable hydraulically under the influence of hydraulic fluid pressure supplied by a manually or motor-operated pump 18. In the illustrated embodiment it is assumed that the pump 18 is motor operated and comprises an electric motor energized by a conventional 100 or I 15 v. AC power source.

However, a mechanical screw jack can be substituted for the hydraulic cylinder if so desired.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1 a universal clevis drive, well known to those skilled in the art, is located at the center of the compacting head 6 and secured thereto. It is not believed necessary to discuss the clevis drive in detail and it is simply pointed out that it consists of mounting brackets 10, shaft trunnion 11, the pin 12 and the clevis 13. This assembly will hinge to any angle and could, if desired, be replaced with a ball-andsocket joint. The piston rod 14 of the cylinder screws into the clevis so that power is transmitted and any uneven motion is accommodated by the clevis drive.

The direction of fluid flow is controlled by the control valve I9 which is turned in one direction for the compression stroke of the cylinder piston and in the opposite direction for the return stroke. The center position may, in usual manner, correspond to neutral with the piston halted. A pressure limiting device 20 of known construction is interposed in the pressure side of the line and may be in form of a calibrated relief valve which makes it possible to select a maximum allowable pressure on the compacting head. A calibrated pressure gauge 21 is interposed in the fluid line 15a connecting the pump 18 with the piston and cylinder arrangement 14, 15 and serves to show the pressure on a suitable scale, either in pounds total pressure, p.s.i., or simply on an arbitrary A, B, C scale. To limit the speed of travel of the compacting head 6 an orifice of selected diameter may be provided to restrict the fluid flow to the hydraulic cylinder so as to assure that the piston and thereby the compacting head 6 will travel no faster than is considered safe.

On the housing 1 I provide a safety switch or disabling switch 29 which is connected via a suitable connection to the safety valve 30, also interposed in the fluid pressure line from the pump which safety valve is actuated electrically, that is it may be a solenoid valve. The purpose of this arrangement is to assure that the safety switch 29 opens when the door 3 is opened. This, in turn, results in actuation of the valve 30 which closes, shutting off the supply of hydraulic pressure fluid to the cylinder and piston arrangement 14, 15 and terminating further movement of the compacting head 6 in any direction. This is a safety measure to prevent accidents.

It will be appreciated that whereas in FIG. 1 I have shown the various auxiliary components such as the pump, the pressure limiting device, the valve 30 and the like separated from the actual housing 1, I have done this only for convenience of illustration and all of these components may advantageously be mounted directly on the housing 1 itself, preferably on the upper end wall 16 thereof. This results in an extremely compact self-contained unit which requires nothing more than connection with a source of electric current for its operation.

The size arrangements illustrated in FIG. 2 are self-explanatory, it being evident that the height of the compacting head 6 including the upwardly extending skirt 7 thereof may be 8%. inches, that the stroke of the head 6 may be 24 inches as may also be the height of the door 3, and that the spacing of the lower end wall 4 from the ground may be 3% inches. Of course, this is only illustrative of one advantageously dimensioned embodiment and not to be considered limiting in any sense.

Coming, finally, to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, it will be seen that it corresponds largely to that of FIG. 1. The auxiliary components such as the power source and the like have been omitted because they are the same as in the embodiment of FIG. 1. The embodiment of FIG. 3 differs from that of FIG. 1 in that at the bottom of the door 3 there is loosely fastened a shelf or platform 24 extending laterally from the door 3 resting, when the latter is closed, on the bottom Wall 4 on which it slides. The platform 24 is free to move into flat surface-to-surface contact with the bottom wall 4 when the door is closed and in response to pressure exerted by the compacting head 6.

The platform 24 serves to support a waterproof bag of paper, plastic or the like, which advantageously is stiff enough to stand in opened condition by itself and to rest on the platform 24. A loading funnel or hopper 22 connected by a hinge 23 to the circumferential wall of the housing 1 and may be swung upwardly out of the way to be held in position by a latch 26 of known construction, or down into the position illustrated in FIG. 3 where it registers with the open top of the bag 25 so that refuse may be readily introduced into the latter through this funnel 22. Bag 25 may be folded over at the top, or have its top tied by a wire or the like. Then the door 3 is closed so that the bag is located in the chamber 2 and the head 6 is now activated.

In this embodiment, as well as in the preceding one, a trough 27 may be provided in or below the bottom wall 4 to collect any fluid expressed from the refuse and escaping from the bag 25. A drain hose 28 may be provided to evacuate such fluid.

Legs la may be provided in any embodiment on the housing 1, to facilitate mounting of the same in any desired manner.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a refuse compactor, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A refuse compactor comprising, in combination, a housing provided with an internal chamber and including a circumferential wall having an inner side and a pair of axially spaced end walls bounding said chamber; a compacting head having cross-sectional dimensions substantially corresponding to those of said chamber and being arranged therein for guided sliding advancement in axial direction thereof; a door provided in said circumferential wall communicating with said chamber so as to enable introduction into the latter of refuse to be compacted; advancing means associated with said compacting head tiltably suspending the same in said chamber and operative for effecting advancement of said compacting head in axial direction of said chamber to thereby compact refuse between said compacting head and one of said end walls; and guide means including a peripheral wall projecting from said compacting head towards the other of said end walls along and proximal to said inner side of said circumferential wall, for preventing tilting of said compacting head relative to the axis of said chamber in response to advancement axially of said chamber, and for offsetting forces acting upon said compacting head in the peripheral regions of the latter which are further from said axis and closer to said circumferential wall.

2. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 1 wherein said housing is an upright housing, said end walls being the top wall and the bottom wall of said housing, respectively, and said one end wall being said bottom end wall.

3. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 2; said advancing means comprising motive means and motion-transmitting means associated with said motive means and said compacting head for transmitting motion from the former to the latter.

4. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 3; and further comprising disabling means operatively associated with said door and with said advancing means for disabling the latter in response to opening of the former so am preclude advancement of said compacting head when said door is open.

5. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 3, said motive means comprising a hydraulic cylinder-and-piston unit and a source of power for operating the same.

6. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 5, said motiontransmitting means including a universal drive arrangement mounted on said compacting head and a transmission rod connecting said drive arrangement with said unit.

7. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 5, said source of power including a hydraulic pump and a motor associated with said pump for operating the same.

8. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 5, said hydraulic cylinder-and-piston unit being of the double-acting type.

9. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 2, said door being hinged for pivoting movement about an upright axis paralleling that of said housing, and having a lower end portion provided with a laterally projecting platform which overlies said bottom wall interiorly of said chamber when said door is closed, and which platform is adapted to support bag-shaped receptacles for refuse to be compacted.

10. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 9; further comprising a feed hopper hingedly mounted on said circumferential wall above said door and hingedly movable between an inoperative position in which it is upwardly retracted so as not to interfere with movement of said door, and an operative position in which it is positioned above said platform when said door is open so as to feed refuse to be compacted into a bag-shaped receptacle supported on said platform.

11. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 9; said platform having slight freedom of movement in direction towards said lower end wall so as to firmly abut against and be supported by the same when said door is closed and refuse is being compacted.

12. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 2; and further comprising drain means below the level of said said end wall for collecting and draining liquid expressed during compacting of refuse in said chamber.

13. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 9; and further comprising a bag-shaped receptacle arranged to be supported on sad platform for accommodating, prior to closing of said door, refuse to be compacted and for accommodating the compacted refuse so as to facilitate subsequent removal thereof from s said platform. 

1. A refuse compactor comprising, in combination, a housing provided with an internal chamber and including a circumferential wall having an inner side and a pair of axially spaced end walls bounding said chamber; a compacting head having cross-sectional dimensions substantially corresponding to those of said chamber and being arranged therein for guided sliding advancement in axial direction thereof; a door provided in said circumferential wall communicating with said chamber so as to enable introduction into the latter of refuse to be compacted; advancing means associated with said compacting head tiltably suspending the same in said chamber and operative for effecting advancement of said compacting head in axial direction of said chamber to thereby compact refuse between said compacting head and one of said end walls; and guide means including a peripheral wall projecting from said compacting head towards the other of said end walls along and proximal to said inner side of said circumferential wall, for preventing tilting of said compacting head relative to the axis of said chamber in response to advancement axially of said chamber, and for offsetting forces acting upon said compacting head in the peripheral regions of the latter which are further from said axis and closer to said circumferential wall.
 2. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 1 wherein said housing is an upright housing, said end walls being the top wall and the bottom wall of said housing, respectively, and said one end wall being said bottom end wall.
 3. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 2; said advancing means comprising motive means and motion-transmitting means associated with said motive means and said compacting head for transmitting motion from the former to the latter.
 4. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 3; and further comprising disabling means operatively associated with said door and with said advancing means for disabling the latter in response to opening of the former so as to preclude advancement of said compacting head when said door is open.
 5. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 3, said motive means comprising a hydraulic cylinder-and-piston unit and a source of power for operating the same.
 6. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 5, said motion-transmitting means including a universal drive arrangement mounted on said compacting head and a transmission rod connecting said drive arrangement with said unit.
 7. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 5, said source of power including a hydraulic pump and a motor associated with said pump for operating the same.
 8. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 5, said hydraulic cylinder-and-piston unit being of the double-acting type.
 9. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 2, said door being hinged for pivoting movement about an upright axis paralleling that of said housing, and having a lower end portion provided with a laterally projecting platform which overlies said bottom wall interiorly of said chamber when said door is closed, and which platform is adapted to support bag-shaped receptacles for refuse to be compacted.
 10. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 9; further comprising a fEed hopper hingedly mounted on said circumferential wall above said door and hingedly movable between an inoperative position in which it is upwardly retracted so as not to interfere with movement of said door, and an operative position in which it is positioned above said platform when said door is open so as to feed refuse to be compacted into a bag-shaped receptacle supported on said platform.
 11. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 9; said platform having slight freedom of movement in direction towards said lower end wall so as to firmly abut against and be supported by the same when said door is closed and refuse is being compacted.
 12. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 2; and further comprising drain means below the level of said said end wall for collecting and draining liquid expressed during compacting of refuse in said chamber.
 13. A refuse compactor as defined in claim 9; and further comprising a bag-shaped receptacle arranged to be supported on sad platform for accommodating, prior to closing of said door, refuse to be compacted and for accommodating the compacted refuse so as to facilitate subsequent removal thereof from s said platform. 